Coal-handling device



W. ROBERTSON.

COAL HANDLING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILE D MAY 10, 1919.

1,368,456. Patented Feb. 15,1921;

4 SHEETSSHEET I.

W. ROBERTSON.

COAL HANDLING DEVICE.

n APPLICATION FILED MAY10,1919- LQ SSA-fi. v Patented Feb. 15 192 W. ROBERTSON.

COAL HANDLING DEVICE.

' Amcmou FILED MAY 10, 1919. v

- Patented Feb. 15, 1921.

4 sums-sum a.

IE W W 71 11 4177 flit/502;

W. ROBERTSON.

COAL HANDLING DEVICE.

APPLLCATION nuz'o MAY 10. 1919. 1,368,456. Patented Feb. 15, 1921.7

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Y 772111? Tafierfso FATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM ROBERTSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COAL-HANDLING- DEVICE.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM ROBERTSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful lmprovementsin Coal-Handling Devices; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the numerals of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to coal handling devices and although not limited to such use is particularly adapted for supplying locomotives with coal from railroad dump cars. It is a common practice to store coal in large bins in which there is a tendency for the coal to separate from any rock with which it may be mixed. Consequently it is not an uncommon occurrence for an almost entire charge of the rock to be loaded into the tender of a locomotive. By this invention, however, relatively small hoppers are used, preferably adapted to hold the contents of a single car, with the result that any separation which may occur will not be serious in extent. For this purpose hoppers are conveniently built to enable dump cars to be run thereover to be discharged thereinto while beneath the hopper a small dump car is positioned which may be filled with a charge of coal and then elevated on an inclined track by fluid pressure means into a position to discharge the coal into the tender of a locomotive.

It isan object of this invention to construct an improved coal hopper, discharge means therefor, means for receiving a charge of coal therefrom and elevating the same into a convenient position to be discharged into the tender of a locomotive, the power for operating the device being obtained from the supply of compressed air or steam on the locomotive.

It is also an object of this invention to construct a device simple'in operation and consisting of few parts, the motive power of which may be supplied 'from the locomotive to which the coal is to be conveyed and the operations of which can be conveniently controlled by a single person.

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparent from the dis-- closures in the specification and drawings.

Specification of Iletters Patent. Patented Feb, 15, 1921, Application filed. May 10, 1919.

Serial No. 296,061.

The invention (in a preferred form) is lllustrated in the drawings, and hereinafter more fully described.

(in the drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional view shown in side Elevation of a device embodying my inven Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation showing the dump car hoisting mechanism.

FFig. 4- is a section on the line H, of

ig. l.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. l.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation partly in section of the chute and the lower part of the hoper. .Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6. i

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8--8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a longitudinal vertical section through the dump car.

r Fig. 10 is a section on the line 10-10 of Fig-11 is a section on the line 1111 of Fig: 1, with the dump car omitted,

. s shown on the drawings:

The device is illustrated in the act of filling a locomotive, the tender 1, being located in position on a track 2, to receive coal therefrom. Parallel to the track 2, is a second track 3, supported by an elevated trestle 4:- Between the sides of the trestle and under the track 3, is arranged a hopper 5, for the reception of coal discharged from a railroad dump car 6.

This hopper is formed with four side walls all of which slope toward a central aperture leading to a chute 7. Since coal is apt to form a bridge in the hopper it is necessary at times for the operator of the device to loosen the coal in the hopper by a pole or the like. To facilitate this work a runway 41 is preferably provided along each side of the hopper on which the opera tor may stand while loosening the mass of coal therein.

The coal from the hopper 5 is adapted to pass through the chute 7, into a dump car 10, having wheels 11, which run upon an inclined track 12. The dump car 10 may advantageously be formed with side walls 12, extending outwardly over the wheels 11 as shown more particularly in Fig. 10.

The car 10, is hauled up the inclined track by suitable means, such as the cable 13, until it reaches the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 when the coal therein is discharged into the tender 1. The discharge of the contents of the dump car 10, is. controlled by a door 1%, forming a part of the bottom of the car. I ()n the underside of this door is mounted a wheel 15, adapted to run upon a rail 16, intermediate the rails 12 which carry the main supporting wheels 11, of the truck. The rail 16' is downwardly curved at its upper end adjacent the point of discharge so as to allow wheel 15,. and with it the door 14-, to drop to allow the con tents of the car to discharge.

The cable 13, is conveniently operatedby fluid pressure means such as a cylinder 20. supplied through a pipe 26,.with compressed air or steam from a drum 21, which in turn .may be connected by pipe 22and flexible hose 23, to the air or steam line of theloco. motive. As it is desirable that a relatively short stroke of the piston in the cylinder 20, should produce 'a much greater movement of the cable 13, the latter is passed around the sheave 17 and the sheave 24 a number ot times as shown more particularly in Fig. 3. A suitable three-way valve 25 is provided in the pipe 26, leading from the cylinder 20, to the drum, for controlling the admission and exhaust of the operating fluid to and from the cylinder 20. This valve is conveniently'located on the ground near the hopper, where it may be operated by the same individual who has control oi the discharge of the coal from the'hopper 5, into the dump car 10.

The cable 13, is provided wth a sliding connection to the car 10, so that the pull on the car is always substantially through the center of gravity of the car irrespective of the changes in the position of the car with relation to the sheave 17, over which the cable passes at its upper end. This sliding connection may conveniently take the form of an arcuate arm 18, at one end of the car 10, which arm is engaged by a pulley 19, secured to the end of the cable 13.

The chute 7, shown more particularly in Fig. 4, is conveniently formed so that its bottom 27 is substantially a continuation of the one of the sides of a hopper so as to facilitate the flow of coal therefrom and at the same time direct the coal toward the car 10, as indicated in Fig. 1. The chute is further provided with side walls 28, and a top wall 29.

Since the capacity of the hopperis considerably greater than that of the car 10, means are provided for cutting the flow of coal through the chute. For this purpose, an arcuate gate 30 is provided adapted to close the opening between the bottom, side and top walls of the chute as shown in Fig. 7.

drawn by the sition, indicated in Fig. 1. In this position,

incense It has been found that there is less liability for the gate to jam it it is moved upward against the stream of coal than if it were moved in the opposite direction. Consequently the gate is arranged to swing under the chute about a pivot 35, as indicated in Fig. 6 when it is desired to discharge coal from the hopper. At each endoi the gate 30, flanges 31, are provided, the upper portions oi which form segmental gears 32, adapted to mesh with tour pinions 33. By rotating the shaft 3%, which carries the pinions 33, the gate may be swung about its pivot 35 to open or close the end of the chute. For turning this shaft, a sprocket 36, is arranged at one end of the chute 3 1 for engagement with a chain 37, passing around a second sprocket 38, journaled on an arm 39, secured to the trestle 4:. A crank A0, is provided for rotating the sprocket 38 and thereby operating the gate 30. This crank is conveniently located adjacent the valve 25 so that a single operator may readily control the whole device.

The operation is as follows:

A coal car 6 is run over the hopper 5 and its contents discharged into the hopper. The operator then opens the gate 30 of the chute by turning the crank 40 to fill the :dump car 10. Whenthis has been accomplished the gate 30 is swung back into closed position to out off the stream of coal.

The valve 25 is then operated to supply fluid under pressure from the locomotive to the cylinder 20, whereupon the dump car is cable 13, into the dumping poby reason of the downwardly inclined end of the middle rail 16, the door '14:, in the bottom of the car 10 falls open to allow the coal to discharge into the tender 1.

By turning the valve 25 to exhaust position the car is free to run down the track 12 to its original position raising the piston in the cylinder 20 as it descends. The car 10 is then ready to receive a second charge of coal from the hopper.

1 am aware that numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and 1 therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted further than necessitated by the prior art.

1 claimas my invention:

A coal handling device comprising in combination, a track for supply cars, a hopper beneath the track, said hopper having four inclined converging sides terminating in a delivery chute, a runway around the top of the hopper, whereby the coal in the hopper maybe loosened by an operator on the runway, a semi-cylindrical gate pivoted on the end of the delivery chute, a geared segment on each end of said gate, a pair of sprockets cooperating with each segment, a 13 chain passing over a sprocket of each pair, two smaller sprockets on a manually operated shaft which coact with said chains to open and close the gate, an inclined track having its lower end below the opening of said chute, and its other end above a'third track provided for trains to be supplied, said inclined track consisting of three rails, the middle rail being shortest and terminating in a downwardly curved end immediately above the third track, a car on said inclined track, said car being provided with a hinged door in its bottom, a roller on said door adapted to cooperate with said middle rail, a cable slidably connected to the car in such a manner that the pull on the car is always substantially through its center of gravity, a cylinder having a steam controlled piston for operating the cable, said steam being supplied by the train on the third track, and means adjacent each other for manually controlling the delivery of coal from the chute and the operation of the car.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM ROBERTSON.

Witnesses:

CHARLES W. HILLs, Jr., EARL M. HARDINE. 

